Mr. Adrian Geissel:

I thank members of the committee for the opportunity to attend the meeting today on behalf of South Dublin Chamber, which covers the same geographic area as South Dublin County Council, with the main towns being Tallaght, Clondalkin and Lucan. I am a member of the chamber council. I was democratically elected to the governing board at our AGM and, in common with my fellow council members, I serve voluntarily.

South Dublin county has benefited greatly since the establishment of South Dublin County Council in 1994, before which the area had developed in a city-centric, or city centre-centric, manner, being a mixture of industrial estates and commuter housing for those working primarily in the city. Today there is an economic, commercial and social vibrancy in the towns, villages and business parks in the county. Our county council executive and elected councillors work hard to ensure the success of the county and to improve the lives of those living and working in the county. While we have still some way to go, in particular with cross-county public transport, we feel we are heading in the right direction.

South Dublin Chamber can see clearly that with the local government for our county, we have growth and development, improvement of facilities, with a local university and two hospitals, and economic investment and success at a general level. We see multiple examples where South Dublin County Council works closely on shared services with its neighbouring local authorities when needed, such as on fire and ambulance and emergency services. Looking at land use, for example, South Dublin County Council and Dublin City Council are currently developing City Edge as the largest development in the State through co-operation not legislation. This development is transformative in how it is being planned and how it will be used.

What then prevents the local authorities impacted by mayorship doing so with other areas that would benefit from cross-county or intercounty co-operation?

Our question is what a newly established mayor of Dublin will do to improve our economy in south Dublin county and the lives of the citizens of the county. How will the role of the new mayor operate in the context of national agencies such as EirGrid, the National Roads Authority, the National Transport Authority and, most recently, Uisce Éireann? Will these agencies be expected to divest their authority and budget to the office and cabinet of the mayor? This is one of our concerns.

The Mayor of London is often cited as an example of the success of a directly elected mayor. London has a population of 9 million people. We have to remember we are a small country with a small population and we have centralised government based in Dublin. Surely our challenge is to ensure better co-operation between the existing elected and appointed bodies that impact our lives, rather than adding another layer to add to the complexity and cost of decision-making.

We value the citizens’ assembly process, especially in bringing fresh perspectives on the impact of Government policies but we emphasise that there are other perspectives, including those of the business community, which we are representing here today. How much will the office of the mayor cost? How many staff will be required? How many people will be on the mayor's cabinet? At what level will these staff be? How will this be funded without increasing the costs to Dublin businesses, which are already paying the highest commercial rates in the country?

We also note recommendation 13 on the role and resourcing of councillors. This recommendation calls for all councillors to have secretarial support and states that salaries should be reflective of the full-time commitment. Again, our question is how this is going to be funded. The proposal from the citizens’ assembly includes a recommendation for more structures such as such as a Dublin city and county assembly. Again, we are asking how much this will cost and what value it will add to what is already there. If staff are taken from existing local authorities, will this impact on local delivery of services?

The idea of a directly elected mayor, or having a single authority to get things done for the city, can be seductive. However, we have already seen the dismantling of town councils. In general, the further away government gets from the people, the less people feel empowered and the less likely they are to engage with the system. South Dublin Chamber is an advocate for participative democracy, enabling citizens to participate at the level closest to where they live and work. We are not against the concept of a directly elected mayor but we await clear legislative pathways for the impacts on political agency and local administration structures and clear costings as, ultimately, our members will pay for this through additional taxes. In the interim, our county and the other parts of Dublin should be realising their potential through more support for intercounty co-operation and engagement and a stronger Government focus on Dublin, which is the economic powerhouse of the country but remains challenged by the issues of housing supply, water supply and energy supply. I look forward to participating in the remaining discussion today and very much appreciate the opportunity to convey our views.